Yes. For example, the PML Web Creations website has been coded to “fit” on a smartphone. If you go to www.pmlwebcreations.com using a smartphone, you will see a “condensed” form of my business’ website.

This is a continuation of frequently asked questions (FAQs) from PML Web Creations’ clients and potential clients.

What is “The Cloud?”

These days, it’s the Internet. Besides that, it’s a term used by marketers to get people to think that it’s this big, new technology and that it’s something they should get. And, technical people use allkinds of terms to impress people into thinking that they know what they’re doing.

Back to the Cloud. Here’s an example of what it is:

When you go to make a document in Microsoft Word, you open it up on your personal computer, type in your content, then save it on your computer. If it was “in the cloud,” you would go on the Internet, access some type of Word program by entering in an address to a program, the program would come up on your computer, and then you would save your document on a different computer other than your own.

Check out www.pixlr.com. It reminds me of a cloud application. It’s an online photo editing program available on the Internet, instead of on your own computer (i.e., Photoshop). And after you create your image, you can store it on Facebook, Pixlr, Picasso, etc.; you don’t have to save it on your own computer.

Conceptually, the Cloud has been around for over fifty years, basically starting with mainframe technology and the concept of centralized computing. But, I won’t go on with those details.

Following are the things that PML Web Creations does in order to improve search engine results for clients’ websites:

Website title and description META tags are defined according to page content.

Suggestions are made to create content that is relevant to their business. Quantity does not matter as much as relevancy.

Relevant information is textual.

Websites are “hard-coded” using HTML; website creators are not used. This allows the search engines to more easily identify relevant information.

Checks for broken links are periodically made.

Website navigation is simple and easy to follow.

All websites are coded according to the W3C standards.

Images are defined.

All websites contain a “sitemap.”

Five of the businesses are appearing on the front page of Google and/or Google Places when searching by location using major search keywords pertaining to the business. Improvements are being made for one of the businesses.

One other business is being reviewed for SEO improvement; other clients are not concerned about the search engines, however all websites were developed to be “search-engine friendly.”

Facebook pages have been developed and/or improved for four of my clients; this includes text and graphical improvements.

Twitter accounts were developed and/or improved for two of my clients; this includes text and graphical improvements.

Created a WordPress blog for one of my clients; the blog was discontinued due to costs.

Email marketing is done for two clients.

Listings are created for Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, per client request.

All client websites, with the exception of one, are monitored using Google’s Webmaster Tools. An offer was previously made to all clients to receive reports from this tool.

First, here’s an explanation. A business email address would have your domain name in it; the same name used for your website. For example, peggy@pmlwebcreations.com is a business email address because “pmlwebcreations.com” is the domain name for my website: www.pmlwebcreations.com.

It is best to use a business email address for the following reasons:

Better chance that you will receive emails. For example, if my email address were peggylet@aol.com, it would be possible for someone to try andsend me an email at peggyl@aol.com. The email would probably be sent, because someone else has this email address. Obviously, I would not receive it but whoever has the peggyl@aol.com email address would.

It’s more professional. Imagine your lawyer giving you his email address as davesmith@aol.com. Using a business email address improves the legitimacy of your business.

It’s needed to verify that you are the owner of various online profiles and directories. For example, if you have a Facebook page and need to merge it with Facebook places pages, you need to have a business email address.

It is part of the Google Places listings guidelines. They suggest that you use a business email address.

This is the first post, of a series, that I plan to create regarding questions/concerns that have been expressed by PML Web Creations’ potential and current clients. Each post will address one question.

I had thought about creating a newsletter, but quite frankly, I do not think most people read entire newsletters.

Can it be GUARANTEED that my Website will rank on the FIRST PAGE of a Google search?

No.

Per Google documentation,

“No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.

Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.”

And, even if you advertise with Google, there is no guarantee that your website will rank on the first page of a search result.

“First page bid estimate

The estimate is not a guarantee — even if your bid meets the first page bid estimate, there is always a chance that your ad will not appear on the first page. Use the estimate to help make bidding decisions that are right for you.”

In the U.S, there are now more active mobile devices than there are people. These devices include tablets and cell phones. *

More and more people are using their mobile devices to search for information “with more than three quarters (77 percent) using mobile search more than five times in the last month.” **

In the past, websites were developed primarily for viewing on desktop and laptop computers, and they still are. However, with more and more people searching for information on a mobile device, websites need to download quickly and be easily readable on the device in which the user used to do the search.

PML Web Creations can optimize websites for “smaller devices,” such as smartphones. These websites need to include the site’s most important information along with the organizations contact information. This is because most mobile users want the information to download quickly and fit on their smaller screens.

If you access the PML Web Creations website from a mobile phone, you will see the above “in action.” To see what the mobile-optimized website looks like on your desktop, please click here.

To improve your connection on the web by reaching more Internet users who use mobile devices, please contact PML Web Creations to discuss your needs for this growing technology.

This is the third part of a three-part series that explains what you can do to promote your business on the Internet. The three parts of this series include website development, search engines, and online advertising.

Online Advertising

Use the Services of a Professional Web Designer/Developer. You may have heard about the many website development tools endorsing the possibility that “anyone can create a website” with their software. Relatives, friends, volunteers, and current employees might be able to do this for your business. However, there are many other tasks that professional web designers and developers do to make your website truly effective. These include ease in navigation, effective placement of content, color and font usage, graphic options, and handheld device considerations.

Hire an Internet Marketer. Or, I can do this for you at my current hourly fee. This could cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars with a major marketing consultant. At this time, I do not have a referral for a reputable consultant and hesitate to make any recommendations to my clients.

Business-Related Directories. Get listed in current website directories pertaining to your business. For example, if you are a restaurant, you might want to get listed in www.restaurant.com.

Online Phone Directories. Ensure that you are properly listed in the online phone directories. That is, if someone does a search on your business type in your area, your business will appear in their listing.

Have Other Websites Link to Yours. Find other websites that will link to your website. Offer to link to their website. This is one of the top methods that can be used to drive traffic to your website.

Use Google AdWords and/or the Yahoo Sponsored Search. With Google AdWords your business would be listed next to the search results based on keywords that you define. Yahoo Sponsored Search also lists your business above and next to search results based on predefined keywords. Both of these can be costly, with the Yahoo service being more expensive.

Social Networking. Create your business presence in the “social networking” arena. This includes Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (major networking blogs/websites/forums). Yes, they are essentially gigantic weblogs (blogs). Also, it is very important to link your business between these networks.

The above information can be helpful to your business. If I can be of assistance, please contact me.

This is the second part of a three-part series that explains what you can do to promote your business on the Internet. The three parts of this series include website development, search engines, and online advertising.

Search Engines

No One Really Knows How They Work. Yes, it is a secret and they change the algorithms that are used to find websites based on keyword searches. The major search engines are Google, Yahoo, Bing, and MSN. If someone tells you they can get your website ranked on the first page of a major search engine, they are lying. Maybe they can do this in the short-term by using some kind of “coding trick,” but the search engines will eventually “catch it” and your website could get eliminated from their rankings, possibly indefinitely.

Use Proper Coding. There are certain tags in your code that need to be set up correctly. These include your website’s Title, META Tags, and HTML coding in your content. The Title is the most important, but all the other tags and coding need to be related. It is easier for the search engines to find your information if your website is properly coded.

Submit to Search Engines. Your website, if not already ranked by the search engines, needs to get submitted to the major search engines. They only need to be submitted once and can be resubmitted when major website changes occur.

Be Patient. It can take weeks or even months for your website to show up in the major search engines. Periodically, I review my clients’ websites to see how they’re doing in the engine rankings. I then recommend the actions mentioned in this note, if they have not yet been done.

The above information can be helpful to your business. If I can be of assistance, please contact me.

This is the first part of a three-part series that explains what you can do to promote your business on the Internet. The three parts of this series include website development, search engines, and online advertising.

Website Development

Use the Services of a Professional Web Designer/Developer. You may have heard about the many website development tools endorsing the possibility that “anyone can create a website” with their software. Relatives, friends, volunteers, and current employees might be able to do this for your business. However, there are many other tasks that professional web designers and developers do to make your website truly effective. These include ease in navigation, effective placement of content, color and font usage, graphic options, and handheld device considerations.

Use Standards Compliant Code. My clients’ websites are coded using “hard-coded” HTML. What this means is that I do all the coding without using website building software (e.g., FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Microsoft Office). This gives your website a greater chance of working in all the web browsers even when they change their code. These browsers include Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Chrome.

Keep Your Layout Simple. In most cases, your website has only seconds to keep the attention of an Internet user. It needs to represent your business identity, be attractive, contain simple content, and be easy to navigate.

The above information can be helpful to your business. If I can be of assistance, please contact me.